Hi… I hope there’s some people still checking this. I know I’ve been really bad in the last while for posting updates, but you know… I just sort of feel like, with one month left, I’m so close to the end that most things that I have to tell now can just wait till I get home. But I guess a month is still quite awhile, so here’s a quick post:

- I’m still doing well! I’m healthy and happy, have lots of homework to do this week, Japanese lesson test tomorrow, oral exam on Friday, a million ceramic pieces to finish, other papers, etc. due this week and then next week is… FINALS. My last day of finals is the 17th and, well, you know how that feels… I’m pretty excited. School’s not too stressful here, but it’s still a lot of work and I’ll be glad to have that part over.

- Luke arrives here on the 16th. We’re starting to finalize some travel plans… we’re gonna go to Tokyo for about 5 days, check out that big place, maybe stay in a capsule hotel for a night, go to a big design festival (Design Festa) that’s being held May 26th and 27th, go to Harajuku area which my Lonely Planet describes as “trendy teen fashion-land”, in Osaka plans include a Hanshin Tigers baseball game (baseball is a huge deal over here, I hear that games are quite cool), dinner with my host family, my “graduation” ceremony, party with my friends (I’ll need to say bye to them!), go to Dotonburi and Shinsaibashi streets maybe… Also we’ll tour around Kyoto for a couple days maybe, perhaps half a day in Nara to see the big buddha…. we’ll see. Kind of all still up in the air, as for specific plans. Oh, and Korea. South, of course. We’ll go there from the 29th to June 3rd. I’m not sure yet what we’ll do there, but I’m really excited to go.

- I’m gonna miss my family when I leave. They’re so nice, and I’m sure there’ll be days after I’m back at home when I’ll just want to walk into their little house and sit down for some rice, miso and fish. Aw…

- This past week was Golden Week, which meant Mon Thurs and Fri were all holidays. Everyone in Japan travels and everywhere is busy. So some of my girlfriends (Lucy, Megan, Amanda, Leah, Maria [Spain], Maria and Adriana [both Colombia]) and I went to a little tiny town down south on the coast, where there was… umm…. basically just a youth hostel. It was fun though. We had a sushi and takoyaki picnic on the beach, drank some beer around a bonfire on the sand (that I made! i have outdoor ed. to thank for the skills), borrowed bikes from the hostel to go to a supermarket (the only one was pretty far away, haha) and ate at one of two restaurants, I think. It was a relaxing couple days.

- I’m already feeling torn about wanting to go home, but not wanting to go home. It’s gonna be hard I think. I’ll definitely miss lots of things here. The uber-punctual transportation system, the food (rice, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, chirashi-zushi, my mom’s pumpkin soup, miso, convenience store rice balls…), my friends from so many parts of the world, seeing buildings and things that are really really old, the fountain on campus, sleeping on futons, riding bikes with baskets, etc.

- BUT, I will be glad to be back to many things at home. Clean air, actual rivers, having people drive on the right side of the street, being able to understand things, my family/friends/boyfriend, watching TV and movies, cooking, having public transit that runs past midnight, shoes stores having shoes that fit me, etc.

Well, I’m gonna keep working on this paper now… Bye guys.